The frenetic Philbin, who wasn’t giving interviews yesterday, indicated why he’s chosen to leave the top-rated “Live” this summer or early fall when he broke the news at the top of yesterday’s show.

“There is a time that everything must come to an end for certain people on camera — especially certain old people,” he said, laughing.

Philbin, who turns 80 on Aug. 25, has dealt with several medical issues the past few years — including triple-bypass heart surgery in 2007 and a hip replacement in December 2009.

He made his first concession to slowing down a bit several years ago when he began working a Monday-Thursday schedule, with guest co-hosts sitting in with Kelly Ripa every Friday, including her husband, actor Mark Consuelos.

“While I realize that nothing is forever, somehow, I had always hoped there would be an exception,” Ripa said of Philbin’s impending departure.

Philbin’s current deal, which he signed in 2008, reportedly pays him $21 million a year.

“I don’t want to alarm anybody,” Philbin said at the show’s start. “This will be my last year on the show.

“It’s been a long time; it’s been 28 years,” Philbin said. “It was the biggest thrill of my life to come back to New York, where I grew up as a kid watching TV in the early days, you know, never even dreaming that I would one day have the ability . . . to get in front of the camera and talk to it.”

Over the past few years, many names — including “Survivor” host Jeff Probst, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Howie Mandel and Consuelos — have been mentioned as possible Philbin replacements.

Insiders added Sam Champion of “Good Morning America” to the long list, along with “20/20” co-anchor Chris Cuomo and Ripa’s former “All My Children” co-stars Josh Duhamel and Cameron Mathison.